Tuesday, May 26, 2009

In spite of the near yearbook riot from the kids who returned from the zoo field trip and demanded their yearbooks right then and there.

In spite of the dozen or so books with a torn page 155.

Yep, the distribution of all 1,200 or so 2009 yearbooks in a mere 50 minutes is now one for the memory books. So what better time to jot down a few hints for D-Day (that’s Distribution Day for those of you not in the biz).

Richie’s D-Day Rules

Tip #5… It ain’t no thing…Before you hand out those yearbooks, have students who are not on the yearbook staff go through the book page by page by page looking for bad things… You know, things like naked people and bad stuff and all those things that belong in the “Things That Will Get You Fired” folder.

Tip #4… Don’t be a Dingaling. Let it ring…No siree, Missy. Never, ever, ever pick up the phone during D-Day. Let that call go straight into voicemail. Trust me, it is not Ed McMahon calling to say you won the million dollar sweepstakes. Nor is it your superintendent telling you the school board loves you so-o-o-o-o much they’re sending you to the Bahamas. Nope. Instead, embrace technology. Use voicemail. Trust me, you’ll be glad you did.

Tip #3… Controlled ChaosBe more organized than the King of Organization, Peter Walsh. Become the List Queen. We have a list for everything. A list of people who purchased books, a list of people who still owe money, a list of distribution teams, a color coded map of distribution classrooms, an escape map and hatch…OK, OK, OK, so maybe not that… but perhaps we should.

Tip #2… Kickin’ it…Take a kickboxing class. Really. I just started taking a class. Who knew hitting stuff could be so much fun? I even bought some fancy schmancy kickboxing gloves. My exercise buddy emailed me afraid I would have to miss our class because of D-Day. I emailed her back saying I planned to go especially because I was handing out yearbooks. I added, “I think I’ll need to hit something. It probably ought to be a bag.”

And Richie’s Number One Tip… Can we have a drum roll pah-leese…Tip #1…Give ’em an offer, they just gotta refuse…I always send out a clever little email called, “Ask the Yearbook Diva” containing those frequently asked questions about distribution and yearbooks. This year I ended my FAQs like this… Gotta a problem with the Diva? Call Dr. Al at ext. 1016 and tell him you want to be the yearbook adviser.

3 comments:

Wonderful list of ideas! I was never yearbook advisor but I would always get a sub for D day and then go help the yearbook advisor because I always felt like she needed another adult backing her up. She always appreciated it and I felt like if I was in the way, she would have told me. I was always amazed at what she went through and did all that I could to help her. Hope you survived!

As one who has been both verbally and physically assaulted during yearbook distribution at Our Humble High School, I concur wholeheartedly with all of your warnings, dictums, etc., etc. I'd add one more: If a student is rude, refuse him his book until he cleans up his potty mouth. We're starting yearbook distribution Tuesday after school. Oh, for joy!

Buy the book or the chicken gets it!

**************************Just a reminder that the opinions here are mine and mine alone…but hey, you probably already knew that. Oh, and one other thing, no clients, students, The Chicken, other rubber chickens or animals of any kind were harmed in the creation of this blog.

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